Yerebatan Cistern

The entrance of the Underground (Yerebatan) Cistern, which is the biggest of over sixty cisterns built in Istanbul during the Byzantine Period, is just across from Hagia Sophia Museum. Since there were not enough water sources inside the Byzantine ramparts that surrounded the city, for ages, the water of the city was supplied from the rivers and sources in the Belgrade Forest, which is 25 km. north of Istanbul. During the wars and sieges, as the enemy soldiers used to destroy the ducts bringing water to the city or poison the water, large cisterns were constructed for storing water since the very beginning.

Yerebatan Cistern, which was completed in a very short time (only a couple of months) in 532, is the storage where the water was delivered to the city through the Valens Aquaduct, is stored. It was used until the 16th century. The cistern, which was in use for a short period of time during the Ottoman Period, was restored in the mid 19th century. The cistern, where columns from different Roman structures

were used, is 70 m. wide, 140 m. long, with a total sum of 336 columns, which were placed in every 4 m. The total water capacity of the cistern is 80.000 m3 and its height is 8 m. and has around 10.000 m2 surface area.

After the restoration work completed in 1987, the cistern was opened for the public visit. The lights and classical music played complete the mystic atmosphere in the cistern. At the very back side, the two Medusa heads, which are used as column bases, are placed side way down whereas the other one is placed upside down. Certain scenes of the James Bond movie named 'From Russia with Love' was filmed in Yerebatan Cistern.

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